Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to make the UK a world leader in electric car manufacturing.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. Through our Industrial Strategy and landmark Automotive Sector Deal, we are placing the UK at the forefront of new automotive technology development. Government and industry have committed £1 billion over 10 years to 2023 through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC). Government has also committed £274m to the Faraday Battery Challenge, and circa £80m in the last Budget to the Stephenson Challenge, newly named ‘Driving the Electric Revolution’.
In May 2018, as part of the Future of Mobility Grand Challenge, my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister launched our mission to put the UK to be at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles and for all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040. The Road to Zero strategy sets out a clear pathway to zero emissions. In order to achieve this, we are investing nearly £1.5bn between April 2015 and March 2021 with grants available for plug in vehicles, schemes to support chargepoint infrastructure and grant funding to support R&D into cleaner vehicle technologies.
There are a number of manufacturers already producing electric vehicles in the UK or with ambitious plans to begin production in coming years. The Nissan Leaf – manufactured in Sunderland - is currently the UK’s best-selling electric vehicle. From later this year, BMW’s MINI Electric – launched this month – will be made at its Oxford plant. Jaguar Land Rover also announced this month its commitment to invest in building a new range of electric vehicles at its Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham, and the first of the new vehicles to be produced will be the new, all-electric Jaguar XJ. In September 2018, Aston Martin Lagonda announced that its new production facility in Wales will become the home of its electric vehicle range.
Global demand for UK designed, engineered and manufactured vehicles is strong and the industry has one of the highest productivity levels in Europe. In 2018 the UK was the second largest market for ultra-low emission vehicles and the fourth largest market for battery electric vehicles in the European Union. The UK is also global leader in the development and manufacture of electric vehicles; in 2018 a fifth of battery electric cars sold in Europe were made in the UK. So far in 2019, sales of battery electric vehicles have increased significantly, up by 60% over the same period in 2018. There are 200,000 ultra-low emission battery electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles registered in the UK.
This Government will continue to work closely with the automotive industry, to ensure that it can succeed globally long into the future as it invests in electric car manufacturing. We are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for the automotive sector.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Society of Motor Manufacturers’ statement that the Government's decision to abolish the Plug-in Car Grant three weeks early at the end of 2018 has caused a reduction in sales of low-emission vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has not abolished the Plug-in car Grant (PiCG). The plug-in car grant continues to provide £3,500 to support the cleanest vehicles and will continue to exist in some form until at least 2020.
The PiCG was introduced in 2011 to support the early market for ultra-low emission vehicles. Through the PiCG we have supported the purchase of over 200,000 plug-in vehicles, including around 100,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles. Last year, in light of increased demand and decreasing prices, we reviewed the PiCG to focus on the cleanest vehicles. While sales of plug-in hybrids have decreased since the grant was reviewed, sales of zero emission cars are up by more than 60% in 2019, than for the same period in 2018. Overall, sales of all alternatively-fuelled cars have increased this year, compared to the same period last year.
The Government’s ambition is for the UK to be a world leader in zero emission vehicles. We are investing nearly £1.5bn between April 2015 and March 2021. The Government’s Road to Zero strategy was published last year and details how this funding is providing grants for plug-in cars, vans, lorries, buses, taxis and motorcycles, as well as schemes to support charge point infrastructure at homes, workplaces and on residential streets.
Asked by: Matthew Pennycook (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring automotive manufacturers to make a fixed proportion of the vehicles they make available for sale electric.
Answered by Michael Ellis
EU regulations set mandatory limits on the CO2 emissions of new cars and vans registered in the UK. Negotiations on new targets for 2025 and 2030 have recently concluded and were informed by a European Commission impact assessment of mechanisms to encourage manufacturers to produce electric vehicles, including setting a sales mandate. The assessments are available https://ec.europa.eu/clima/sites/clima/files/transport/vehicles/docs/swd_2017_650_p1_en.pdf and https://ec.europa.eu/clima/sites/clima/files/transport/vehicles/docs/swd_2017_650_p2_en.pdf
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of why sales of electric cars in the UK have fallen behind sales in other European countries.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In 2018 the UK was the second largest market for ultra-low emission vehicles and the fourth largest market for battery electric vehicles. The UK is also global leader in the development and manufacture of electric vehicles; in 2018 a fifth of battery electric cars sold in Europe were made in the UK. So far in 2019, sales of battery electric vehicles have increased significantly, up by 54% over the same period in 2018. Our Road to Zero Strategy sets out a clear pathway to zero emissions, to give clarity and certainty to both industry and motorists.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2019 to Question 240013, how much of the 2018/19 £200 million budget has been allocated to (a) support for the purchase of vehicles, (b) the installation of the necessary recharging and refuelling infrastructure, (c) a focused R&D programme to support development of innovative technologies, (d) a joint government - industry communications campaign and (e) support for local authorities to introducing a range of policies to support wider ULEV uptake in their areas respectively.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Of the £200m the Government has allocated towards supporting the market for ultra-low emission vehicles in 2018/19 we are forecast to spend (a) nearly £140m to support the purchase of ultra low emission vehicles; (b) over £25m to support the installation of charging and refuelling infrastructure; (c) more than £25m on R&D for the development of innovative technologies delivered through Innovate UK; (d) around £0.7m on a joint government-industry communications campaign; and (e) over £26m to support local authorities.
In 2018, the UK was the second largest market for ultra low emission vehicles in the EU accounting for nearly 20% of registrations, and 1 in 5 electric cars sold in Europe last year was made in the UK. In 2018, sales of ultra low emission vehicles were 2.6% of all new cars, up from 1.8% in 2017.
Thanks to Government leadership, private sector investment and Local Authority engagement, the UK now has over 17,000 public chargepoints. At least 1,700 are rapid devices - one of the largest networks in Europe.
We are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for automotive and other advanced manufacturing.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he made an assessment of the potential effect of reducing incentives for plug-in hybrid and electric cars on the number of purchases of those vehicles before taking the decision to reduce those incentives.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Since 2011, the plug-in car grant has provided a discount to the price of over 170,000 cars, and disbursed over £0.7 billion to support the early market for ultra low emission vehicles. Based on internal assessments made before the change to grant rates in October 2018, we expect sales of ultra low emission cars to continue at similar levels in 2019 to those seen in 2018.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of reducing incentives for plug-in (a) hybrid and (b) electric cars on the number of purchases of those vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Based on our internal assessment, following the change in grant rates we expect sales of ultra low emission cars to continue at similar levels in 2019 to those seen this year.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason his Department has taken the decision to reduce the plug-in car grants for electric vehicles; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Plug-in Car Grant was first introduced in 2011 to help to stimulate the early market for ultra-low emission vehicles. So far, it has supported the purchase of over 160,000 new cars. The market share of these vehicles is now 2-2.5% of new car sales and growing.
Increased uptake of the grant, whilst positive, brings higher costs to the taxpayer, and the changes to the grant reflect the Government’s commitment in the Road to Zero strategy to deliver a managed exit from grant funding over time. Their effect is to allow the grant to support the purchase of 35,000 more of the cleanest vehicles.
With plug-in hybrid models becoming popular among consumers the Government is focussing its attention on zero emission models. Plug-in hybrid vehicles are among the cleanest on the road, and can deliver significant savings compared to petrol/diesel cars. These vehicles will continue to receive support through lower car tax rates, grants for charging infrastructure and local incentives (such as free parking). The Government has also separately extended its support for electric vehicles with a new scheme to support e-cargo bikes.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason his Department has taken the decision to abolish the grant scheme for new plug-in hybrid cars.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Plug-in Car Grant was first introduced in 2011 to help to stimulate the early market for ultra-low emission vehicles. So far, it has supported the purchase of over 160,000 new cars. The market share of these vehicles is now 2-2.5% of new car sales and growing.
Increased uptake of the grant, whilst positive, brings higher costs to the taxpayer, and the changes to the grant reflect the Government’s commitment in the Road to Zero strategy to deliver a managed exit from grant funding over time. Their effect is to allow the grant to support the purchase of 35,000 more of the cleanest vehicles.
With plug-in hybrid models becoming popular among consumers the Government is focussing its attention on zero emission models. Plug-in hybrid vehicles are among the cleanest on the road, and can deliver significant savings compared to petrol/diesel cars. These vehicles will continue to receive support through lower car tax rates, grants for charging infrastructure and local incentives (such as free parking). The Government has also separately extended its support for electric vehicles with a new scheme to support e-cargo bikes.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department undertook an impact assessment of the effect on demand for electric vehicles in advance of the decision to reduce funding for the plug-in car grant.
Answered by Jesse Norman
For the last seven years, the Plug-in Car Grant (PICG) has provided a discount for over 160,000 new ultra-low emission vehicles. Following a review of the grant the Government announced reduced rates earlier this month, while introducing a new scheme to support the take-up of e-cargo bikes.
Among other things, the review evaluated the impact of reducing grant rates on vehicle sales using a leading consumer-choice model. This model estimates how consumers will react to an increase in the price of ultra-low emission vehicles.
The recent announcement will support the purchase of the next 35,000 of the cleanest vehicles.